A Thousand Thoughts
by chawk1993
Summary: *ONE-SHOT* After reuniting with his father at the Rodman house, Blue Eyes finds an old photo of his father with a human he will never know: his adoptive human grandfather, Will Rodman. Upon seeing this photo and seeing Malcolm, Ellie and Alexander's kindness, Blue Eyes realises there is more to humans then Koba told him *Rodman house extension/AU scene from DAWN*


**A/N:** _Hi Planet of the Apes fans! I wrote this forever ago and I never finished as I had trouble finding the motivation to finishing it. For anyone who has read my previous one-shot I loved the character of Blue Eyes and I thought he really shone as a protagonist in Dawn. This fic is merely an extension/AU of the scene at the Rodman house when Blue Eyes finds the photo of Caesar and Will and continues on from that. Please note that this is unedited so there will be errors in spelling and grammar._

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 **A Thousand Thoughts**

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A thousand thoughts ran through Blue Eyes' mind as he looked at the photo of his father and the human man. He thought he had known his father but apparently he didn't. All his life he had seen Caesar as a strong, no nonsense leader who just so happened to be a father and husband. He now realised that Caesar had once been a son too but not in the same way Blue Eyes himself was. He now understood that humans had raised Caesar from infancy to adulthood.

Blue Eyes now understood why Caesar was so compassionate towards Malcolm and his family and why he had tried to talk him around. He had been a fool to listen to Koba and that had cost him Ash's life. Ash had been onto something. He understood that now. Caesar's beliefs had been the reason why the apes had spent so many peaceful years living without conflict.

There was a noise behind him prompting Blue Eyes to nearly drop the photo. He turned to see Caesar watching him with interest. Putting the photo aside, Blue Eyes got up and started to head towards his father, only he stopped mid-step as Caesar headed over to him.

Caesar stopped next to his son, laying a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face the photo that Blue Eyes had been looking at a moment earlier.

" _Father, who is that? That human?"_ Blue Eyes signed.

Caesar fought to keep a sad smile from his face. "My father."

Blue Eyes gave him a puzzled look.

"His name was Will. He raised me. He made me smart." Caesar said, his voice low.

" _He is the reason why I am smart too?"_

" _In a way. The sickness that killed most of the humans was created by him by accident."_

Blue Eyes, curious to know more, looked back at the photo as if it could give him the answers to his questions.

" _The virus was given to my mother which Will then gave his father to make him better. The virus made my mother smart. Her smarts passed onto me and then I passed it onto you and your brother."_

"Who else knew about your past?" Blue Eyes asked turning his gaze away from his father.

" _Your mother, Maurice and Rocket were the only ones who knew until Koba worked it out for himself."_

" _How did he find out?"_ Blue Eyes asked.

" _He saw my kindness to the humans. Not long after the rebellion, Will came after me and Koba came across him and wanted to hurt him but I refused to allow him. I think he realised then. He is not dumb."_

Blue Eyes nodded in agreement. He knew from experience how scheming and manipulative Koba could be.

" _Why does Mother have the same eyes as you?"_ Blue Eyes asked his father curiously.

Caesar slightly recoiled at his son's question. _"Will made a new virus that was more powerful then the one he gave my mother. I stole it and unleashed it on your mother and many of the others who were with us in captivity while they were sleeping."_ The Alpha explained.

" _Captivity? But I thought you were raised by humans."_ Now Blue Eyes was confused.

Caesar gave his son a half-smile. "I was. I was taken from this house and to an ape house." He shook his head, wanting to dispel all the negative memories of the past.

Blue Eyes remembered seeing Rocket and Maurice chained up in the city. Was this captivity? He nodded, still not fully understanding but let it slide. So did Caesar.

Caesar patted his son on the shoulder.

Blue Eyes lay his head on his father's uninjured shoulder and closed his eyes. He relaxed even more when he felt Caesar wrap him in a tight hug. Caesar rested his head against Blue Eyes'. After everything he had witnessed in the last couple of days, Blue Eyes was now willing to do anything he could to avenge his best friend's death and his father's almost fatal shooting. He remembered his mother's final words to him before she was sent into hiding.

" _Be safe and be careful. Avenge your father."_

Blue Eyes had never seen his mother so upset but after everything she had seen that night would plague her for a long time to come. Blue Eyes felt sorry for his little brother, Milo for having witnessed their father's shooting. An ape so young shouldn't have to face something that tragic in their first few days of life.

"Father?"

Caesar lifted his head to look at him.

Blue Eyes searched his father's eyes before speaking. "I miss them."

Caesar didn't have to ask whom he was referring to. "We see them again." He rested his head against his son's again.

There was a clearing of a throat.

Father and son looked over from their embrace to see Alexander standing awkwardly in the living room doorway.

"Sorry. Ellie asked me to bring this. She said it would keep your strength up. It isn't much but it's all she could find." Alexander held up two white bowls.

Blue Eyes wandered over, taking the bowls from the boy. He nodded his thanks to the boy.

Alexander pressed his lips into a tight line but nodded all the same. He had had come accustom to Caesar but he was a little afraid of Blue Eyes and what he would do. He had witnessed the young chimp attack Carver but then again, he had been only protecting his little brother.

Blue Eyes looked over at the mantelpiece again before his gaze returned to the bowl. The food that Ellie had conjured up didn't appear to be very appetizing. It looked lumpy and colourless. Nothing like the fruit, nuts and animal meat he was accustomed to in the village.

Caesar looked down at his own slop of food that Blue Eyes had given him and realised what it was. Porridge. Looking over at his son, he nudged his arm. _"Eat. Good."_ He then picked up the spoon and started to eat.

Blue Eyes watched his father eat. Looking at the metal thing his father had just picked up in his own bowl, Blue Eyes decided to give it a try. Dipping his finger into the mix, he scooped some up and placed it into his mouth.

Caesar and Alexander watched. They had to hold back laughs when Blue Eyes, liking what he had tasted, took the spoon and shoveled it into his mouth.

A moment later, Ellie entered. She stopped in the doorway.

The two apes and Alexander turned to see the amused look on the former nurse's face.

"Look's like we found something human that Blue Eyes likes," she then turned to Caesar. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Caesar told her.

Ellie, forever concerned for Caesar, headed over to him to check his wound.

Caesar took her hand, stopping her.

Ellie stared at him in surprise.

"Thank you." Caesar then pulled her into a hug.

Ellie was quick was to hug him back. She had witnessed so much of his kindness towards her and her family and was willing to do anything for help him.

While Blue Eyes continued to eat, Alexander, Ellie and Caesar headed over to the couch.

Malcolm entered and joined them.

The group was silent for a moment before Malcolm decided to speak up. "How are you feeling?" he asked Caesar.

Caesar glanced down at his bandaged arm. "Okay." He answered. Feeling the couch shift, he looked up to Blue Eyes perched on the back.

"What are we going to do now?" Alexander asked. "We can't go back into the city. Any ape following Koba will surely kill us on sight."

The others nodded in agreement.

Blue Eyes reached over and tapped Ellie on the shoulder. The human looked up to see Blue Eyes pointing at the window. The others turned to see what he was pointing at.

"The car?" Malcolm asked.

Blue Eyes nodded. _"Can't we take that into the city?"_

Caesar shook his head. "No. Anything human would expose us."

There was another bout of silence.

Something clicked in Alexander's mind. Jumping up, he ran for the kitchen.

"Alex?" Ellie called.

A moment later Alexander returned with an armful of supplies. Blue Eyes jumped off the couch and went to help him carry the stuff over to their parents. The boys dumped the stuff on floor.

"Okay what do we have here? We have batteries," Ellie held up a large box with an assortment of batteries. "Torches."

"Matches." Caesar said holding up two small red boxes.

Blue Eyes picked up a shiny red oval and examined it.

Caesar looked up from his searching to see what his son was playing with. He immediately recognised it as Will's Swiss Army knife. Taking the utensil from his son, he flicked the knife open. _"Knife. Handy."_ He closed the knife off and flicked open the other tools. Scissors. Cork screw. Nail file.

" _Tool?"_ Blue Eyes signed in question. His father nodded. He went back to searching the pile.

Malcolm looked through a box Blue Eyes had placed on the floor. There were all kinds of things inside. Tapping his wife on the shoulder, he pushed the box in front of her.

"Medical supplies? Alex and I searched the house and couldn't find any." Ellie looked over at Caesar who had stopped flicking through an old photo album.

"Will liked to hide his supplies. Illegal if found." Caesar explained with a shrug.

Blue Eyes eyed his father, a smile crossing his face.

Caesar threw his son a playful look before going back to searching. When he found nothing else of value he got to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Alexander asked.

"Attic." Caesar said.

Blue Eyes got up.

Caesar could see that Blue Eyes was only being curious. After everything Blue Eyes had grown up learning from Koba, Caesar was glad that his son had seen reason. He himself knew exactly what it was like growing up with something only to learn later that it was far from the truth.

Blue Eyes followed his father out of the living room and up the stairs. He stopped when he found Caesar standing under a closed latch in the ceiling.

Caesar gestured to the latching, pointing to his shoulder.

Blue Eyes understood and leapt for the handle to the door. Grabbing it, he pulled it down.

Caesar patted his son on the shoulder and handed up the stairs with Blue Eyes following him.

" _Where are we?"_

" _My old room."_

Blue Eyes looked around. The room was dusty and dirty as if it hadn't been lived in for years. Puzzles and books were scattered across the floor. Climbing equipment hung from the rafters. Picking up a cube shaped puzzle, Blue Eyes examined it curiously.

Caesar, seeing his son pick up the puzzle, wandered over and gently took the puzzle from him. Slowly, he showed Blue Eyes how it worked.

"Rubik cube. Fun puzzle."

Caesar completed the puzzle a couple of times before handing it back to Blue Eyes.

Blue Eyes copied what Caesar had shown him. It had taken him a while but finally he was able to put return all the coloured squares to their rightful place. He smiled at his completed task before turning to look at his father.

Caesar nodded in approval, patting his son on the arm.

Something caught Blue Eyes' eye.

Caesar watched as his son wandered over to the window. The symbol of the apes' liberty. The symbol of Caesar's iconic rebellion.

" _Father? What is this?"_ Blue Eyes asked.

" _Window."_ Caesar said. _"Shape Ape symbol."_

Blue Eyes nodded. He had been around the symbol all his life but had never questioned as to why the apes' symbol was so strange. He didn't need to ask why the window had been the inspiration. Looking out, he could see the overgrown trees and if he looked close enough, he could see a tiny part of the road where Malcolm had parked the truck outside.

"Caesar? Blue Eyes?" Ellie called from downstairs.

Leading Blue Eyes from the room, Caesar looked back over his shoulder. He would have to come up here later and have a better look around.

Back in the living room, Ellie stood at the doorway.

"They've just gone to look at the attic," Alexander said. "Stop worrying."

At that moment, Blue Eyes and Caesar reappeared, prompting Ellie to sigh in relief.

On the floor, Malcolm and Alexander exchanged smiles.

"What did you find?" Malcolm asked.

Caesar shrugged. "Nothing much." He lied. He hated lying to his new friends but having them know he had been raised by humans would have been hard enough. To have them know that he had been treated like a human child would be difficult to comprehend.

Blue Eyes returned to where he'd been sitting and helped Ellie sort through the box batteries. He watched as she unscrewed the top of a torch and placed a couple of batteries inside before screwing the top back on. She flicked the switch and beam of light came from the device. Blue Eyes squealed as the beam of light hit him in the face.

For the first time in days, Caesar laughed. _"Easy son. It is not firelight."_

Blue Eyes threw his father a look of annoyance.

From where they were sitting, Ellie and Malcolm exchanged grins. It was good to see that Caesar was getting his sense of humor back.

Blue Eyes' prolonged reaction to the torchlight wore off after a minute or two. After another half hour of searching, the group replaced all the things they didn't need back in the boxes and carried them back to the kitchen, placing them on the table.

"So now what?" Alexander asked.

Malcolm looked out the window to see that the sky had gone dark. "Well," he sighed, "we need to find some more food."

"I'll help you." Ellie declared.

"I will too." Caesar said, catching on to what Ellie was trying to do.

The adults headed off in separate directions in search of any food Will may have hidden in other parts of the house.

This left Blue Eyes and Alexander alone to find something to entertain themselves.

Looking back to where his satchel lay, Alexander headed over, grabbing a torch as he went. Sitting on the couch, he propped the torch on his shoulder and pulled out his sketchbook and a pencil.

Blue Eyes recognised the book as the same one Maurice had been looking through during the council meeting a few nights earlier. He drew closer, sitting next to Alexander who was struggling to hold the torch and draw at the same time.

Over the last day and a half, Blue Eyes had seen how kind Malcolm and his family had been to his father. He had seen Ellie's kindness when she had made them food and had helped when Caesar had been shot. He had seen Malcolm's concern when Caesar had wanted to after Koba. Then there was Alexander. The boy was shy but he was inquisitive. He liked to ask questions and he loved his parents. In a lot of ways, the pair weren't so different.

Reaching across, he took the torch from Alexander and held it for him.

In the kitchen, Ellie, Malcolm and Caesar peaked around the corner, watching the boys.

Ellie wanted to cry at the sight before them. It was so good to see that Blue Eyes and Alexander were finally bonding over something.

Malcolm and Caesar watched with pride as their sons bonded. They had been through a lot and yet, the toll the upcoming war would have on the boys was unknown. Both were strong but both were vulnerable.

Allying himself with Koba had almost broken Blue Eyes while the loss of his mother at the age of five had shaken Alexander.

The trio of adults stood for a while longer, wondering if their boys would ever get to live in a world where there was no war and conflict. A time where there was peace and apes and humans living in harmony.

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 _There you have it! I know it has an abrupt ending but like I said in the above note, I didn't know how to finish it. I hope you've enjoyed and please leave a review._


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